10.5061/DRYAD.B031N
Denis, Thomas
AgroParisTech
Richard-Hansen, Cécile
University of the French West Indies and Guiana
Brunaux, Olivier
University of French Guiana
Etienne, Marie-Pierre
French National Institute for Agricultural Research
Guitet, Stéphane
National Forests Office
Hérault, Bruno
AgroParisTech
Data from: Biological traits, rather than environment, shape detection
curves of large vertebrates in neotropical rainforests
Dryad
dataset
2017
distance sampling
Eira barbara
Puma concolor
Odontophorus gujanensis
Ateles paniscus
French Guiana
Ortalis motmot
relative abundance
Saimiri sciureus
Bradypus tridactylus
Panthera onca
Saguinus midas
Tapirus terrestris
line transect
encounter rate
Crypturellus spp.
Mazama nemorivaga
hunting vulnerability
Geochelone denticulata
Tayassu pecari
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
Sapajus [Cebus] apella
camouflage
neotropical terra firme rainforests
Cebus olivaceus
Penelope marail
Tamandua tetradactyla
Mazama americana
Nasua nasua
Pecari tajacu
Dasyprocta leporina
Tinamus major
Myoprocta acouchy
Pithecia pithecia
Alouatta macconnelli
Crax alector
Psophia crepitans
2017-03-07T17:13:16Z
2017-03-07T17:13:16Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1549
190147 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Line transect surveys are widely used in neotropical rainforests to
estimate the population abundance of medium- and large-sized vertebrates.
The use of indices such as Encounter Rate has been criticized because the
probability of animal detection may fluctuate due to the heterogeneity of
environmental conditions among sites. In addition, the morphological and
behavioral characteristics (biological traits) of species affect their
detectability. In this study, we compared the extent to which
environmental conditions and species’ biological traits bias abundance
estimates in terra firme rainforests in French Guiana. The selected
environmental conditions included both physical conditions and forest
structure covariates, while the selected biological traits included the
morphological and behavioral characteristics of species. We used the
distance sampling method to model the detection probability as an explicit
function of environmental conditions and biological traits and implemented
a model selection process to determine the relative importance of each
group of covariates. Biological traits contributed to the variability of
animal detectability more than environmental conditions, which had only a
marginal effect. Detectability was best for large animals with uniform or
disruptive markings that live in groups in the canopy top. Detectability
was worst for small, solitary, terrestrial animals with mottled markings.
In the terra firme rainforests which represent ~80% of the Amazonia and
Guianas regions, our findings support the use of relative indices such as
the encounter rate to compare population abundance between sites in
species-specific studies. Even though terra firme rainforests may appear
similar between regions of Amazonia and the Guianas, comparability must be
ensured, especially in forests disturbed by human activity. The detection
probability can be used as an indicator of species’ vulnerability to
hunting and, thus, to the risk of local extinction. Only a few biological
trait covariates are required to correctly estimate the detectability of
the majority of medium- and large-sized vertebrates. Thus, a biological
trait model could be useful in predicting the detection probabilities of
rare, uncommon or localized species for which few data are available to
fit the detection function.
Distance data of medium and large-sized vertebrates in French GuianaThis
.csv file contains all data to repeat the distance sampling study on
animal detection presented in the associated paper. Perpendicular distance
data were not truncated at 50 m.detection_article_data_to_dryad.csv
French Guiana (Guiana shield - South America)